Medium Tree
Is a Wide Tree saddle a better multi fit saddle then a medium tree?
i want a good saddle, but i want it to fit a wide variety of horses. so i thought that maybe a wide tree would do the trick? any ideas
NO - this is not an accurate assumption.
There's more to saddle fit than tree width. Wide saddles are less often required than medium tree saddles. wide saddles are usually only required for horses with very wide shoulders and very shallow or non-existent withers.
If you put a wide-Tree Saddle on a horse that's a typical medium, the pommel of the saddle will impact the withers which will cause pain. You require 2-3 fingers worth of space between the withers and underside of the pommel when the saddle is properly put on and the rider is in it. Less than that does not allow room for shoulder movement.
Truthfully, a medium tree (in a western, often called a semi-Quarter Horse bars) will fit a wider range of horses than a wide tree saddle will.
So why the seemingly recent issues regarding saddle fit? Years ago, and not many at that, before the advent of artificial insemination and hauling equipment that allowed horses to be taken a very long distance for breeding, the only way to get a mare bred was to find the most desirable local stallion to take the mare to. There was no way to get semen from a stallion far, far away unless you had the time and money to take the mare far, far away to said stallion and wait the required days to ensure proper breeding to bring her home (or make two trips to bring her back) - I remember those days. Therefore, the genetic pool in a geographic area within a breed was pretty small. The body structure of the horses in an area was generally similar. A saddlemaker then in that area would generally make saddles that fit horses in that area. Now that we can have horses from anywhere bred to horses anywhere pretty much, and the genetic pool is very much larger, the body structures of horses even within very small geographic areas vary greatly. Horseowners at one time really tended to have saddles Custom Made for horses, which is tough because a horse's body changes so much through the better part of it's life - the saddles not going to fit perfectly for it's whole life. Also, the saddles far outlasted the horse's useful life, so if you got a really strange fitting horse and fit a saddle to him, what would you do with the saddle when you got a different horse? People are now learning to purchase saddles that fit their horse the closest possible then use aids such as different Saddle Pads to make it fit better, but there's only so much fixing to the way a saddle fits you can do with a pad.
I would encourage you to select horses most likely to fit a typical medium tree saddle. Or if you're going to need to buy a Wide Saddle, either consider selling saddle with horse when the horse goes in order to buy anoter one for the new horse, or look for horses that require wide saddles. Really, though - most saddles made today will hold their value well if they are well-cared for. Especially certain saddles hold their value well. I've not seen too many people who've bought a good value saddle and lost their eye teeth on selling it if it's been in Good Condition. It's only those who paid a good dollar for saddles not made to last a long time or difficult to keep in great shape that lose.
If you're worried about having as few saddles as possible for multiple horses on your farm, though it really depends on the mix of horses you intend to have. Perhaps having a medium and a wide saddle may be necessary to keep all well saddled.
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